What is it that makes Eldritch blast the best damage cantrip?

You may or may not change what weapon you're wielding

I mean... sure? Not exactly something I'd add to a list of options I feel good about being able to pick from, but whatever floats your boat I guess. At any rate, a Bladelock can also do that.

You attack. That's either a hit or miss.

Cool. So another thing a warlock can also do.

If you hit, you choose whether to divine smite it or not.

A Bladelock can pick up Eldritch Smite if he wants to, but even besides that, while it's not exactly a direct comparison, there's not really much more choice here than a warlock choosing whether to apply Hex/Hexblade's Curse before he blasts.

If you divine smite, you choose what spell slot to use.

Similarly, I'd liken this to a Hexblade with Hex deciding if he wants to apply Hex/Hexblade's Curse after already applying one or the other.

Cast a cantrip

Others have already pointed it out, but yeah, paladins can't do that normally.

Cast a spell

Again, warlocks can do this too.

Use their Find Steed mount in some fashion.

Chainlocks can use their Find Familiar familiar in some fashion.

Channel Divinity

Fey Presence. Hexblade's Curse. Healing Light. etc.

You can use Lay on Hands to clear diseases or heal.

I've played maybe one game in my four-ish years of playing where disease was a risk, and even then it didn't matter because the paladin was the one who would've gotten the disease if he wasn't immune. So that leaves the option of deciding whether or not to use Lay on Hands to heal... which Celestial warlocks can also do with Healing Light, as a bonus action no less.

So that gives paladin, this supposed paragon of decision making, a grand total of one thing a warlock can't also do, and that's only because warlocks don't have multiple slot levels to choose from.

/r/dndnext Thread Parent